We should never forget how much we owe to the generations of South Africans who struggled and sacrificed to achieve our freedom, who strove to do the right thing in dark times, and who bore injustice with courage and dignity. Their legacy requires us to work to protect and advance the rights and freedoms bestowed by our constitutional democracy.

Over the past two decades, our country has done remarkably well. We have delivered on the commitment enshrined in our Constitution: to ‘build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations’. We have forged strong relationships with the global community and with our fellow Africans, strengthening and extending regional political and economic institutions. At a time when our continent is being courted by the world, we are working with our regional partners to ensure that Africa “comes out of this tango better off” – in the memorable words of Ghana’s former President, John Kufuor.

We have capitalised successfully on many of South Africa’s national competitive advantages – our economy remains the most developed in Africa, serving as a major financial and commercial hub. Gross domestic product has almost tripled since 1994. Extreme poverty has fallen by eight percentage points, and the black middle class has grown to 4.2-million today.

We have built robust institutions, from Parliament and the Judiciary to the Chapter Nine bodies and our vibrantly independent media, all of which now have strong records of ensuring that citizens’ voices are heard. Today, all of us can say that we are proud to be South Africans.

But we still have a long way to go. For far too many people, the benefits of political freedom have not translated into economic opportunities. To advance the aspirations of our young democracy, we must now focus on building a more inclusive private sector and a more accountable public sector, precisely as described in the National Development Plan (NDP) – itself another achievement of which we should be proud.

Critical priorities include improving access to quality education, from early years through to tertiary training; equipping our young people with useful skills and with opportunities to gain vital work experience; and stimulating job-creating economic growth by investing in critical infrastructure.

Standard Bank is proud to play a role in this economic transformation by investing in infrastructure development, facilitating trade, providing credit to businesses and individuals, extending financial inclusion, and contributing to black-economic empowerment. We are proud to be a real economy bank in a democratic South Africa and we are committed to working with all South Africans to strengthen the social compact and implement the NDP vision.